Former China Chongqing party chief under probe

[SHANGHAI] Sun Zhengcai, the former Communist Party chief of the Chinese city of Chongqing, is under investigation by authorities, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing people it didn't identify.

Sun, 53, was the youngest member of the party's Politburo and was considered a rising star ahead of a key leadership reshuffle later this year. State media reported earlier Saturday that he was replaced by a provincial party chief - Chen Miner - who is an associate of President Xi Jinping.

A party meeting in Chongqing to announce Sun's departure was told he was under investigation, the Journal reported, adding that no details of the probe were given. Chongqing is a fast-growing mega-city and one of four centrally administered municipalities alongside Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.

If confirmed, it would be the first probe of a sitting Politburo member, a key leadership body in the Communist Party, since the downfall in 2012 of another one-time Chongqing chief, Bo Xilai, later sentenced to life in prison for corruption and abuse of power.

It comes before a party congress where many of the 25 members of the Politburo are expected to be replaced as Xi heads into the second half of his scheduled term in power. Five of seven members of the supreme Politburo Standing Committee - all except Xi and Premier Li Keqiang - are also scheduled to retire.

Xi's Visit Xi has for more than four years embarked on a sweeping crackdown on graft at all levels of the party. He's warned corruption is one of the biggest threats to the party's future. The campaign has also allowed him to amass greater power.

Sun had previously drawn praise from the president: During a visit to Chongqing in January 2016, Mr Xi stood side by side with Sun and admired various projects under his purview, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. While inspecting port and railway projects to support Mr Xi's initiative for a new Silk Road trading route to Europe, the president said, "This place is very promising." Still, the party's top anti-graft agency, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, issued a statement in February after an inspection trip to Chongqing saying the municipality fell short of "clearing toxic residue" from Bo's era. And in June, state media said Chongqing's top police officer, He Ting, had been relieved of his post.

The party's Organization Department chief Zhao Leji presided over Saturday's appointment meeting and transition ceremony, where Sun was absent, according to the Chongqing Daily. Zhang urged local officials to be "highly in sync with the central party leadership with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core leader," the paper said.

BLOOMBERG